![]() |
Science Fiction
Dictionary Latest By
"I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander."
|
![]() |
![]() In the novel, the great Tripods, or war machines, of the Martians were supported by great steel tentacles, or "articulated ropes of steel."
The machinery of the late nineteenth century was quite obviously artificial, in its appearance and in its movement. Wells uses the idea of steel tentacles to both differentiate the Martian engineering accomplishments from human accomplishments (making them look more alien) and to take advantage of the slightly queasy feeling the people have when they look at octopi and squids.
Here's another quote to give some sense of its flexibility:
Its motion was so swift, complex, and perfect that at first I did not see it as a machine, in spite of its metallic glitter. The fighting-machines were coordinated and animated to an extraordinary pitch, but nothing to compare with this. People who have never seen these structures, and have only the ill-imagined efforts of artists or the imperfect descriptions of such eye-witnesses as myself to go upon, scarcely realise that living quality.
Here's a more detailed description of how the flexible steel tentacles actually work:
Compare to the description of the tentacles belonging to the supervision robot from Paradise and Iron (1930) by Miles Breuer. Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
resources: Steel Tentacle-related
news articles:
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
|
![]() |
Science Fiction
Timeline
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
|
![]() |
![]() |
Home | Glossary
| Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact
Us | FAQ | Advertise | ![]() Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™ Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved. |
![]() |